(You asked for it, Katrina…and you got it!)

People change jobs all the time and so do military men (and women). It’s a great leap, but it’s not any different from changing careers as most people do to cope with the changing times. The challenge here is how to translate your skills and achievements in the military in a way that appeals to corporate needs.

Here are some tips to help military personnel make the switch to a corporate setting:

Socialize Being in the military means that you have been confined to a work environment typically more rigorous and defined compared to the outside world. The best way to break out of that and fit right in is to spend a lot of time socializing with non-military acquaintances. Yes, even military folks need to network too! Explore your interests and meet new people who can help you get into a new career that would satisfy you needs and preference.

Explore Your Options Working for the military shouldn’t restrict your career options to security; depending on which branch you served, identify your known skills and talents that can be applied in a corporate setting. Also, with a positive mindset and taking a few short courses, you can ease into any civilian job and have the same chance as others who didn’t just step out of uniform.

Research Missing out on the latest industry news can be a setback. To address this, do some research. If you find a job that tickles your interest, then research about the major industry players, current trends and what challenges these companies are facing. With all this information, you can equip yourself with training and extra skills to get a job in that industry you want to tap.

Give Your Resume and Cover Letter a Makeover This is very important. You may be the expert at weapons and artillery, but a laundry list of weapons and military-specific equipment you’ve handled may not be relevant in a corporate setting (unless you were planning join a company that manufactures and/or sells them, or work on military projects as a civilian). Talk about any relevant experience in administration, purchasing/inventory, recruitment, counseling, and other similar functions.

Seek Help If you’re at a loss on where to begin, you can always seek help from friends and family. It would be a good idea too to ask help from military personnel who have already been successful at getting civilian jobs. Gather insight on how you can fully translate your military skills into the corporate world. You can even hire resume writers and recruiters to do the legwork for you to make your corporate job search even faster.

Being a former military person gives you an edge in breaking into the corporate world. Presumably you are very disciplined, trustworthy, strategic, organized, and can follow and execute orders to get the most favorable outcome. Use all these traits to relate how you can bring value into a business, and surely you wont find it hard to step out of uniform and get into a civilian job.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 12:47 pm and is filed under Applying for a Job, Career Changes, Cover Letters, Job Search Tips, Resume, Resume Do's and Don'ts, Resume Help. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.